A/N: After reading Onyx Storm I keep getting random ideas and I couldn't pass on writing this one :)
Two weeks.
Two whole, agonizing weeks without Ridoc’s warmth beside you, without his ridiculous jokes at the worst possible moments, without his arms wrapped around you like a human furnace.
Your bed has never felt emptier.
Every night, you curl up beneath the covers, but it’s not the same. There’s no Ridoc grumbling about how you’re a blanket thief, no sleep-mumbled jokes about dragons snoring louder than Xaden, and no lazy morning kisses before the day drags you both into the chaos of Basgiath.
You miss the way he always, always found a way to touch you, even in sleep—an arm slung over your waist, his nose buried in your hair, his fingers lazily tracing patterns on your skin. Without him, the nights stretch unbearably long, and no amount of blankets can replace the warmth he brings.
So when Rhiannon and Violet tell you he’s back and has a surprise for you, you don’t think. You run.
The Vale is quiet, save for the occasional rustle of wings and the deep, rumbling breaths of resting dragons. The air is crisp, carrying the familiar scent of smoke and earth. Your heart pounds in your chest, anticipation thrumming through your veins as your eyes scan the open space.
Then, you see him.
Ridoc stands beside Aotrom, his brown hair messier than usual—probably from the wind, or from running his hands through it nervously. He’s shifting from foot to foot, the way he always does when he’s excited but trying and failing to play it cool.
Your breath catches, and before you can call out his name, Aotrom lifts his head, lets out a soft huff, and shifts to the side—revealing something burned into the ground.
You blink. Then take a step closer.
I LOVE YO
You tilt your head. Something’s… missing.
Ridoc turns, his face lighting up the moment he sees you. “Y/N!” His entire body practically vibrates with energy, and before you can say anything, he gestures toward the ground with both hands. “Ta-da!”
Your gaze flicks back to the message. The last letter is definitely missing.
Slowly, you lift an eyebrow. “Ridoc,” you say, voice thick with amusement, “where’s the ‘U’?”
Ridoc freezes. “Wait, what?” He whips around, eyes scanning the scorched words. The moment he notices, he groans dramatically and drags a hand down his face. “Oh, come on!”
Aotrom lets out a very unbothered-sounding snort.
Ridoc turns on his dragon, hands on his hips. “Dude. You had one job.”
Aotrom flicks his tail, the picture of innocence.
You cross your arms, biting back a grin. “Ridoc,” you repeat, “why is there no ‘U’?”
Ridoc sighs, shooting Aotrom another look before turning back to you. “Okay, so technically the ‘U’ was there… but right as Aotrom was finishing it, he saw a sheep on one of the lower fields and, uh… immediately took off.”
Your jaw drops. “You’re telling me your dragon abandoned your romantic gesture for a sheep?”
Ridoc throws his hands up. “He really likes sheep, Y/N! I can’t control his cravings!”
Aotrom rumbles contentedly, as if to confirm this fact.
You press a hand to your mouth, but the laughter breaks free anyway. “Only you, Ridoc.”
Ridoc grins, clearly relieved you’re laughing instead of being upset. Then, as if remembering something, he suddenly produces a bouquet from behind his back. “Okay, so the message is a little… incomplete, but this survived.” He steps closer, pressing the flowers into your hands. “Happy anniversary, Y/N.”
Your fingers tighten around the bouquet, your heart swelling. “Happy anniversary, Ridoc.”
His usual playful smirk softens into something more sincere. “Gods, I missed you.” His voice drops slightly, and his eyes roam over your face like he’s memorizing every detail. “Sleeping alone is the worst. Do you know how many times I woke up reaching for you, only to grab a pillow?”
Your chest tightens. “I know,” you admit. “I kept waking up cold.”
Ridoc groans dramatically, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you in. “That’s it, I’m never leaving again. Two weeks is way too long. I almost died, Y/N. Died.”
You snort, resting your head against his shoulder. “From what? Sheep deprivation?”
“Exactly!” he exclaims before pulling back just enough to meet your gaze. His voice drops to something softer, more serious. “I love you. Even if Aotrom forgot the ‘U.’”
You smile, reaching up to brush his messy hair from his face. “I got the message.”
Ridoc watches you for a beat, his expression shifting, turning softer, more intense. Then he cups your face, his palms warm and slightly rough from training. “Can I kiss you now?”
You laugh, but it comes out breathless. “I think you’re required to.”
He doesn’t waste a second.
Ridoc leans in, and the moment his lips press against yours, everything else fades away—the teasing, the missing letter, the two agonizing weeks apart. He kisses you slowly at first, like he’s savoring the
’s trying to make up for every second you spent apart. Then, as if he can’t help himself, he deepens it, tilting his head to fit his lips against yours more perfectly. His hands slide down to your waist, pulling you closer until there’s no space left between you.
Your fingers tangle in his messy hair, and he lets out a quiet, contented sigh against your lips. The warmth of him, the way he tastes like fresh air and something undeniably Ridoc, makes your head spin.
When he finally pulls back, he keeps his forehead pressed against yours, his breath slightly uneven. “Yeah,” he murmurs, voice full of wonder, “definitely never leaving for that long again.”
You smile, brushing a thumb over his cheek. “You better not.”
Ridoc sighs dramatically, pulling you into his chest again. “I suffered, Y/N. Two weeks without you? Pure agony.”
You laugh softly, letting yourself sink into him. “Oh, the horror.”
Ridoc grins. “You joke, but do you know how many times I woke up thinking you were there? Only to grab a pillow?” He shudders. “It was tragic.”
“I do know,” you admit, voice quieter now. “Because it was the same for me.”
His arms tighten around you, and for a moment, he just holds you, warm and solid and here.
Then, as if unable to help himself, he presses another kiss to your temple. “You’re not sleeping alone tonight.”
The certainty in his voice sends warmth curling through you.
“Good,” you murmur. “Because I was not looking forward to another cold bed.”
Ridoc hums, tugging you toward Aotrom. “Then let’s get out of here. I already suffered through two weeks without you—I’m not wasting another second.”
Aotrom lets out an exaggerated sigh, as if deeply inconvenienced by his rider’s affection. But even as he huffs dramatically, his tail flicks in amusement, his green eyes twinkling.
You glance at the scorched I LOVE YO on the ground one last time, shaking your head fondly. “Still can’t believe Aotrom abandoned romance for a sheep.”
Ridoc groans. “Don’t remind me. I’m gonna have to do something even bigger next year to make up for it.”
You smirk. “Well, you could start by actually spelling out the whole thing next time.”
Ridoc laughs, scooping you up onto Aotrom’s back before climbing up behind you. As his arms wrap securely around your waist, he presses a soft kiss to your shoulder, voice warm against your skin.
“Next time, I’ll make sure the whole kingdom knows just how much I love you.”
And as Aotrom takes off into the sky, the wind whipping through your hair and Ridoc’s laughter ringing in your ears, you know that no matter where life takes you, as long as you have him, you’ll never feel cold again.
Roommate AU: Random Scene 004– You’re watching the show and Xaden is watching you (x Reader) [F]
X
You laugh, loud, and a warmth he can’t explain fills Xaden’s chest. He watches you, the way your eyes sparkle, the faint smile that stays on your lips as the show continues. The way your hair floats around you like a messy cloud.
When he first met you, all polished and well dressed, he thought ‘Oh she’s going to be high maintenance.’ But once he actually got to know you, he had the surprise of his life to find out that at home you are soft and relaxed and mostly always in pajamas.
He particularly enjoys the weekends when you stay home, no dates or outings with your friends planned— like today. He always sits with you while you watch your shows, pretending he is more interested in something on his phone. But really, there is something about you that pulls him in. He just can’t explain it.
He scrolls on his phone, trying to keep up the pretense of uninterested roommate, but out of the corner of his eye he sees you reach up to push a strand of hair behind your ear, offering an unobstructed view of your face. You blink and your long lashes fan over your cheekbones, your lips form and ‘o’ and then you smile, so focused on the show you don’t see the way his eyes soften when he looks at you.
He moves his thumb absently, pretend scrolling still, and accidentally clicks on a video. Music suddenly blasts from his phone and he fumbles to turn it off, somehow making it louder and starting the video over.
“Damn it,” he mutters, finally getting it to stop.
He looks up to find you looking at him, a curious look on your face. Embarrassed, he apologizes quickly and stands to leave.
“You’re leaving?” You say over your shoulder as he walks around the couch to head to his room.
“Yeah sorry, I have something to do for work that I almost forgot about. It’s due tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow is Saturday.” You smile softly at him, and he feels less stupid for saying random shit when you smile like that.
“I mean Monday.” He starts walking towards his room again, and as he passes behind you he reaches out to touch the ends of your hair with the very tips of his fingers. “Goodnight, ___,” he murmurs
Later, in his room, he will shake his head and wonder what the hell is wrong with him.
he's not shy about his sex life so you're either also a rider and it starts as a friends with benefits kinda thing
or you're a healer and you're hesitant when he starts flirting with you because you don't know if he means it or he's just flirting to flirt
just like Liam I think he'd like to know you can defend yourself, if you're a healer he'd probably be less worried actually. As a rider you'd know how to fight of course but riders are also a lot more aware of his rebellion relic so that adds to the danger for you if you're dating him which he'd hate
he would think it's hot if you're a really good fighter though
if you manage to win against him? oh he's done for
sooo much flirting and banter he's the master of teasing and riling you up
it's like he knows exactly what buttons to push to annoy you and when he succeeds he just grins at you
if you're a rider and manifest your signet for the first time no matter what it is this man is your biggest fan
he's helping you train it outside of classes and then bragging to Xaden about how good you are at it after such a short time
"they can ground way better than we could back then and they can summon it pretty good already!" while on a supply run to god knows where and Xaden is like we're breaking the law right now could you focus
Chradh also teases him about his not so subtle obsession with you
he has you in his room all the time over night he just likes having you close makes him relax a little more because he has eyes on you
he is very careful about it but he's leadership and Xaden's his wingleader so he can get away with it
the best hugs!!!
he's so big so he just fully wraps himself around you
also lifts you up a lot and just puts you where he wants you
he knows one of the cooks pretty well and won't tell you why or how but you get midnight snacks all the time
he's a big boy okay he needs the sustenance
I think he'd also feel bad about lying to you but he's not nearly as conflicted as Liam in his opinion he loves you and he's doing his duty to his country and Xaden with the rebellion both of those things can coexist
when you find out and are rightfully pissed off though he's panicking a little because he loves you he does but you have to understand where he's coming from! he can't just go around telling everyone about it that defeats the entire point of a secret rebellion
that's a rough point in your relationship
if you're a rider you're dragon literally won't let Garrick get close when on the flight field or anywhere where dragons are
Chradh and your dragon get in snarling fights until you two (read him) get your shit together and it messes with the dynamic of the squad for a few flight lessons
if you're a healer you are suddenly very, very busy with your duties and he will purposely let himself get hit during sparring to force you into a conversation. It'll always be just like a black eyes or something because he can't risk getting actually injured
you pawn him off to another healer once or twice
anyway on to more fun stuff
NSFW
okay hear me out but he loves having you ride him so much more than being the one on top
if you're shy about it at first or inexperienced he's making it his sole mission to make sure you enjoy it as much as he does partly because he wants you to be comfortable with him and enjoy sex and partly because he loves it so much and he wants you to do it all the time so he needs you to want it to
he also really loves using his strength though so wall and shower sex are a frequent thing, would probably also sometimes use air to help hold you up let's be honest
not against having you in the sparring gym showers like I said he thinks watching you fight is hot
I wonder if his air wielding signet can be used to make a sound proof bubble of sorts? so you can be as loud as you want without the risk of getting caught
because he really enjoys hearing you he hates when you try to be quiet and will try extra hard to make you fail
"let me hear you, come on love, let me hear how good you feel" in this deep rumbly voice right against your ear
🫶🏻summary: She believed she couldn’t be more to him, so she shut him out. He thought the world of her.
author’s note: well hello beautiful people! 🩷 to be completely honest, i fell down in a very deep writing block rabbit hole and it’s been hard to even form normal sentences. but i wanted to write something, to even get myself out a little from this slump, so here i present to you all this one shot!! i hope you enjoy, thank you for being kind and patient with me 🤗🫶🏻 love, nini
“I never expected Bodhi to lower his expectations to…,” Cat raked her judgemental gaze over your body, her smile nothing less but pure disgust as she turned her eyes back to yours,”…well, this.”
The blood turned cold in your veins.
“What?” You asked, voice slightly trembling as you stood under her unbreakable stare.
“Bodhi’s not used to someone like you,” she glanced at your black leather dressed body with enough meaning she doesn’t have to voice it back to you, not like she would anyway, and she turned her back to you walking away.
The Riorson House was always a chaos to be in, but not as much chaos as your head filled with unwanted thoughts.
You were always the one who liked to observe, not necessarily interrupting any conversation, only if needed, or when Ridoc’s narratives became too much, that’s when you retorted back with enough sarcasm to shut him up.
You didn’t think anything of Bodhi until you heard him laugh at one of your remarks. You didn’t think anything of him, not until his presence soon enough became evident to you. When you caught him looking at you across the dining table, when he sat behind you at one of the lectures, and when he slowly crept up on one of your sparring sessions with Imogen, watching with curiosity and eager to help expression locked on you.
Soon enough, his guidance became friendship, sparring matches became late night talks, and lecture notes became subtle hand brushes in passing.
It became more and more difficult to get him out of your head, hopeful gazes searching for him in order to see him again, before life could get in your way.
Power rumbled through you, body quickly heating as little embers escaped from the tip of your fingers. Your eyes must definitely burned, watching Cat disappear from your sight.
“Fire heart,” Blazeon warned, a grumbling voice echoing through your head.
“Sorry,” you reply. Taking a couple of deep breaths and stabilised your mind enough to keep Blazeon’s power in check within your body.
However, self doubt quickly becomes something you cannot shake off, no matter how hard you try.
Were you really that… insignificant, that walking over you was really that easy? That hurting you was someone else’s literal joy?
You knew it was nonsense. Utterly pathetic and disgusting behaviour one can master, but the damage was done.
And not even Blazeon’s roaring madness could stop your thoughts from spiralling.
—-
The gym was only occupied by you, and your harsh punches on the heavy punching bags echoed off of the walls repeatedly. Each throw came off harsher than the last, each breath became ragged than the last, but stopping meant failure. Stopping meant giving your thoughts a chance to speed off to directions you don’t have the ability to call them back.
Stopping meant hearing Catriona’s judgemental voice. So even though your arms ached from exhaustion, your knuckles raw and bloodied, the skin continued to sizzle with unreleased power, each contact with the leather left tendrils of faint smoke behind.
“You’re going to set the room on fire, if you don’t stop.”
That voice.
You sucked in an unexpected and harsh breath, slightly thrown off your trance, you halted between two punches. Your body almost fell to the ground from the pure exhaustion, your knees wanting to give out.
“Go away,” you croaked, throat dry.
His footsteps echoed, each step came closer to you, until he halted right behind you, and a larger hand came into view, trying to peel away your hand from the leather.
You jerked away, stepping aside from Bodhi, trying to ignore his surprised and saddened gaze all at once.
All day, ever since Cat made her remark, you avoided him. Cowardice, you’d admit, but if her words were truly true, then you stand no chance with him.
Besides, Cat knows Bodhi way longer than you do.
“Leave me alone,” you declared, beelining for the entrance, but not before Bodhi grabbed your arm, stopping you.
“What happened?”
The thing with Bodhi, is that he’s very observant. He stays behind, he opens his mouth once he’s sure and he’s smart. He can figure shit out, and you bet he would have figured out sooner or later that something is up.
“It shouldn’t matter to you,” you muttered, not letting him elevate your head with his finger under your chin, you turn away.
“It does matter to me,” he grits, his fingers curling tight around your wrist. He feels you slipping away, and it scares him, because he doesn’t know how to fix whatever has happened between you two.
Fire soon burned in your veins, your patience wearing tight, because the more you’re in his presence, the less you’re thinking straight. You let your emotions run high, let your eyes and skin burn, until he couldn’t hold you anymore.
“Y/n -“, his eyes widened in shock, his breath staggered as he said your name, but you cut him off.
“Don’t come after me. Not now, not ever.”
—-
“You’re angry,” Blazeon’s voice rumbled in your head, as you approached her. You scoffed at her greeting.
“And you breathe fire when you’re angry. Guess we both have something in common.”
“But are you angry at yourself, or someone else? Your emotions are weakening you.”
“I’m completely fine,” you lied, and her narrowed golden eyes implied she caught up.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to let you fly today,” she retorted, her nails biting into the ground aggressively.
“And I think I’m perfectly capable of deciding for myself.”
“Fire heart,” her warning deep grumble echoed, spiking up the interest of those who were the closest to you.
“Everything okay?” Violet asked, her eyebrows furrowed slightly.
“Yeah, Blazeon’s just a busybody,” you smiled, but it came out weak, and as Blazeon huffed and turned her head away, you just knew you weren’t any good at convincing others.
“You’re paler than usual,” Violet came closer, her eyes raking through you, but it was not as judgemental as Cat’s look was, rather concerned, but still, you shifted on your legs uncomfortably.
“I saw you yesterday at the gym. You were…smoking,” she said cautiously.
If someone else would have seen you, they would say you are overtraining. But thank Zihnal, you were always alone, you made sure of that.
Sleep happened when your body was exhausted enough that your brain just shut off. It was the goal, to be honest, because letting your thoughts wander to Bodhi equaled complete disaster.
The days rapidly went by since Cat’s comment, and Bodhi’s wandering gazes began to suffocate. He still sat a few rows behind you, but feeling his eyes on you was constant.
Lunch was usually spent with Blazeon flying around the mountains, or locked away in your room, practicing runes or mindwork controlling your emotions whenever you felt your body heating up.
Never once he knocked on your door. Never stopped you after classes, and never stepped in your way, when you saw him coming and quickly averted your gaze from him.
It hurt.
It hurt leaving him in complete silence and avoidance.
“Did something happen?” Violet asks, snapping you out of your trance, glossy eyes meeting hers.
Why is she kind of blurry?
“I mean with Bodhi? Because Xaden says -“
“Nothing happened that should concern you,” you cut in, voice sharp but shaky. She was flabbergasted, but quickly managed to mask her emotions behind a solid nod. You felt bad, because Violet was always nice to you, she considered you as one of her dear friends, but she also saw that you’re struggling, mentally and physically.
“Blazeon’s concerned about you flying,” she murmured, most definitely Tairn informed her.
You shook your head, but the sudden dizziness caught you off guard, putting a hand out to stabilise yourself and you stumbled back into your dragon's leg.
“Fire heart, you won’t fly today. You’re in no good condition,” she grumbled harshly, her golden eyes burning with undeniable concern.
“I’m fine!”
“No, you’re not! Your body is spent, your heart is beating erraticly, and your mental shields are in no place. You’re slipping away, and if you are not concerned more about your own well being, I’m not going to let you on my back in the near future. I’m fed up with your nonsense and constant lies. This was not why I chose you,” she scolded you, her tail raised high and swooping down with enough anger that little rocks and dust clouded behind you, and then she flexed her wings and without a second glance, she flew away.
Heavy and fast footsteps followed up behind you, but before you could turn around, your vision blackened out, and the world tilted as you fell unconscious.
—-
Her face was sunken from the amount of weight she lost. Her eyes were closed, but the dark purple circles beneath judged the fact that she never once let herself rest comfortably for a while.
Bodhi caught her, before her face could meet the ground, but the way her body heated up, left a single burn on Bodhi’s forearm.
Blazeon warned her; she was slipping away, and the heavy feeling of sadness started to consume her.
Bodhi watched her pale face from the armchair next to her bed where she laid, her chest raising and falling with deep breaths. At least she wasn’t struggling filling her lungs, only filling her body with nutrition.
Of course he noticed.
And he was angry with himself that he didn’t recognise her pain sooner.
But what caused this pain? What caused her to slip away, to fall unconscious in the middle of the field, and why her dragon was so fed up with her, she flew away without a warning, were the real questions he needed answered immediately.
“What are you doing here?” Her voice came out like a whisper, her throat dry like sand. She looked at Bodhi like she was offended he was here with her.
Ouch.
“Taking care of you, because it seems you’re incapable of doing it yourself,” he bit back, though his deep voice cracked slightly.
“I don’t need your help,” she grumbled, and pushed herself up on her bed with a sigh. Her hand shook as she brushed a piece of hair behind her ear. Bodhi stayed seated, watching with eagle eyes her every movement.
How her breath came fast and furious, her eyes moving around the room rapidly.
She was panicking from the shock of her fainting.
Bodhi stood from his seat and dropped to his knees in front of her, his hands resting on her cheeks to keep her eyes on his.
“Breath with me,” he said, but she shook her head, trying to get away from him. Bodhi just held her firmly, his fingers brushing against her neck, burying his fingers in her hair. “Breath with me,” he repeated, leaning his forehead on hers, feeling her warm breath against his lips.
She squeezed her eyes shut, meanwhile Bodhi just continued to look at her, brushing away a stray tear that rolled down on her cheek.
“Breath.”
And she did. She listened to his breathing, slowly, but surely trying to match hers with his. Her ears still rang, her blood boiling in her veins, but with each deep breath, Bodhi’s fingers curling in her hair, she opened her eyes, gaze glossy from unshed tears, and met chocolate brown irises looking back at her.
He suppressed a tight smile, when he sensed her calmness.
“I’m okay,” she murmured, but neither she nor Bodhi was convinced. Her fingers curled tightly around her blanket, rather anchoring herself than reaching out for him.
Bodhi brushed his thumb over her cheek. “What happened?”
Bodhi may have left her alone, but never really thought of leaving her alone.
She sighed, and pushed his hands away from her face, pushing herself away from him until her back met the headboard.
“I’m sorry, Blazeon.”
“At least don’t lie to one of us. Make it right,” her response was instant, like she waited for you to come back to consciousness, but her stubbornness didn’t change.
Bodhi stepped back, his arms crossed over his broad chest, and that look on his face meant he was waiting. Patiently.
“Keep your stubbornness to when you’re reciting historical facts with Violet and convinced you are right. Keep your stubbornness when you’re sparring with me, and pull every single string on me, so you come up the winner. You can be stubborn all you want, but not when you put your life in danger -“
“I wasn't in any danger,” she cut him off with a roll of her eyes.
“You fainted in the middle of the field!”
“So what?” She asked, pushing herself up from the bed, “Why do you care, Bodhi? Why don’t you go on with your day like nothing happened?”
“Because I can’t act like you just did not collapse like a rug doll!” he seethed.
“I’m fine, Bodhi,” she laughed mockingly, spreading her arms wide.
“Don’t lie to me! You’re not near fine ever since…,” Bodhi suddenly stopped, his eyes widening with utter disbelief as his gaze snapped back to hers, “What did Cat tell you?”
“What?” Now it was she who gaped like a fish, colour draining from her face in a sudden burst.
“What did Cat say to you? I saw you talking with her last week, but I didn’t… I thought she just asked you something about runes, but you act this way since she…,” he stopped, his jaw locking aggressively, “…she said something, didn't she?”
His voice came out ragged, his shoulders falling a little, while her spine locked up, her posture rigid.
“How do you know if she…”
“She’s Catriona,” his smile was weak, like he was already sorry how Catriona was able to break her down piece by piece.
He stepped closer, and dared to elevate her head by a finger under her chin, and when he met with tears frantically sliding down her cheeks, he felt his own knees buckle.
“C’mon, sweetheart. What did she say?” He pleaded, and the way his pulse rapidly increased by the fact he was right, did not mean he was relieved.
“I convinced myself that you won’t ever need me,” she whispered, her voice thick with tears, but broken. “She implied that you’re not used to someone like me.”
“Someone like you?” His eyebrows furrowed.
“Someone who's not pretty enough,” she grimaced that way his face fell, but the damage was done, and she had too much in her heart to handle, so like a dam, it flooded.
“And you know what’s the worst thing? I believed her,” she nodded, her tears rolling even though his fingers tried to catch every single one of them, “I believed she was right even though she’s a bitter and hateful person. I believed I could never deserve you, so I convinced myself you would never need me, like the way I do,” she gasped.
“I punished myself for being weak, because if I ever stopped, the only thing I could do is think of every single flaw I have. I burned the punch bags’ leather because I was slipping in and out of Blazeon’s power, and I had to stay away before I did something unresolvable.”
Bodhi cursed under his breath, all while he worked overtime to wipe away every tear that had fallen from her eyes.
“What she thinks and what I know, are two completely different things,” he stated, his fingers brushing your hair away from your dampened cheeks. “If she thinks she knows me, then she’s truly mistaken. If she thinks she knows what I like, then she is clearly mistaken. And if she thinks she can break someone by utter spite, then she’s earned herself a problem.”
“Bodhi…”
“She never knew me. She saw what she wanted to see, and it wasn’t even the truth. I had lovers, but they always expected me to act like some kind of royalty. I’m not. I’m a rider, I’m a rebellion’s child, but I’m Xaden’s cousin, and because of that, I should have become someone I wasn’t. I was scared for so long to feel any kind of attraction towards someone, because I half expected them to want to change me. But you didn’t. You never did such things,” he smiled, his forehead pressing on hers, and when she sighed shakily, but pressed closer, his hand travelled to her waist, not wanting to let go of her.
“I wanted to be in your company, because I found you interesting, witty and smart. I wanted to get to know you better, because I felt if I didn’t, someone else would. I let you win all the sparring matches, because all I wanted to see was your triumphant smile. I love your smile,” he brushed a finger on the crock of her mouth, then slowly over her bottom lip. “I've wanted you ever since you smiled at me across the dining table.”
His confession left her truly breathless, but her heart was beating erratically behind her rib cage, thundering wildly. Her fingers curled around his wrist which held her cheek.
“You let me win those matches?”
“Of course that’s the first thing you caught up,” Bodhi rolled his eyes, throwing his head back, but soon looked down at her, his smile spreading wide, seeing her wide eyed expression. “Yes, I let you win.”
“That’s so not fair!” She exclaimed, her mouth hanging open as Bodhi just laughed at her.
“Sweetheart, I’d put you on your ass before you'd blink,” he spread his fingers on her rib cage, smoothing circles on her clothed skin. “Are you okay?”
“Well, I’d be better if you'd just didn't admit you never really gave me a real chance on sparring with you,” she sighed while shrugging, but her smile was genuine for the first time since last week.
“Later you can try,” Bodhi reassured her, but his eyes never left hers, as he leaned closer.
“I’m okay,” and this time, she believed in herself, and when Bodhi met her lips for the first time, she hugged him closer by his neck, burying her fingers in his curls, while fireworks erupted in her belly.
A requested one-shot of Xaden and Violet’s first reunion post Onyx Storm
Snow drifts between the violet stems that claim every surface. They’ve conquered the courtyard stones, climbed the training ground walls, spread across the paths in thick purple carpets that whisper under my boots alongside the frost. Thousands of them. Millions, maybe. Like someone scattered an army of her namesake and watched them bloom through everything I see.
I stop. Snow falls harder now, fat flakes that blur the edges of the world.
My hand reaches out. Catches nothing but cold and the memory of silver hair darkening with melt. She leaned back that night, snow dusting her lashes while I kissed her against stone like I had any fucking right to touch her. But I did it anyway, selfish bastard that I am, and now that stone lies buried under flowers that carry her name.
The violets keep coming. I love them and hate them in equal measure. Beautiful reminders of what I can’t have.
Seven months of this. Seven months since I slipped an emerald ring onto her finger while she swayed with exhaustion and battle-torn grief, and she was still the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. Beautiful and mine for exactly twelve hours before I walked away. In the reflection of that green stone, I caught a glimpse of red eyes and corruption already threading through my face like a disease.
Even then, I was this thing. This monster.
A golden thread still burns somewhere behind my ribs, thin as wire, barely there but refusing to snap. It wedged itself in ice the moment I channeled earth magic and knew there was no going back. But it’s unspooling. Every day a little more slips through my fingers while I pretend I can’t feel her getting further away.
The violets don’t care that I’m the thing we fought against now. They bloom anyway, purple and perfect and everything she was before I destroyed us both.
My hand drops toward the ground. Not because I want it to. Because the hunger in my bones has gotten too strong to fight anymore.
Black veins snake up my entire arm, pulsing under skin that’s no longer mine. They burn. Throb. Scream for earth magic, and the soil beneath these violets calls back with everything I need to make the pain stop.
I clench my fist. Stop my palm three inches above purple petals.
Fuck. Fuck, no.
The air around me starts to die. Frost turns grey and crumbles. Snow becomes ash that coats my throat. But I hold my hand there, suspended, every muscle locked against the pull that wants to tear me apart.
The violets stay bright and perfect and hers.
My arm screams. Seven months of this war, and I’m losing. The need claws through my chest, begging me to just take what’s right there. Just once. Just enough to breathe again.
But these are pieces of Violet, and I’d rather fucking die than steal her twice.
“Xaden.”
Every cell in my body comes alive. That’s her voice. The one I’ve fought to remember for months. The one that faded no matter how hard I clawed to keep it.
I’d started to forget. Endless days of replaying the same moment over and over until the sound went hollow in my head. Until I couldn’t tell if I was remembering her voice or just the echo of remembering it.
But this tears everything open. Every word she ever said to me floods through my skull at once.
“Xaden, look at me.”
My head jerks up.
She stands ten feet away in flight leathers, silver hair streaming to the small of her back now. Her eyes lean blue in this strange light, the way they turn when she’s thinking too hard about something. Still impossibly short. Still mine.
But different. The muscles in her arms have definition that wasn’t there before. Her joints hold steady instead of that careful way she moved when the pain flared. Seven months without me, and she’s grown stronger.
The emerald ring catches light on her left hand.
This can’t be fucking real. My dreams don’t work like this. She comes as flowers that I’m afraid to touch, as memories that fade before I can hold them. Never like this. Never whole and breathing and wearing the ring I put on her finger.
My Violet. My love. My wife.
The one I damned my soul to keep breathing. And I’d make the same choice tomorrow if it meant she stayed alive.
My foot moves forward before I can stop it. One step toward her, then another, because seven months of missing her just shattered something in my chest and I’ve forgotten why I need to stay away.
She mastered it. Her dream-walking signet. She broke through whatever walls the corruption built around my sleeping mind and tracked me down like the fucking brilliant, stubborn woman I married.
But I halt when the corruption burns through my veins, reminding me what I am now. What these hands do to everything they touch.
Even here, I can’t reach for her.
“You need to leave. Now.”
She takes a step forward. Another. Moving through the snow and violets toward me.
“Is that any way to talk to your wife?”
“I’m not the same man you married. I could fucking kill you just by touching you, even here.”
But gods, I want to touch her. I want it so badly my hands shake with the effort of staying still. Seven months, and she’s right there, and I can’t move another inch without risking her life.
Perfect pale skin, perfect eyes, perfect everything. And here I am, ugly and corrupted and so fucking unworthy of breathing the same air.
“You’re still you, Xaden. The corruption doesn’t change that.” She takes another step, then another. Three feet between us now. Close enough to see her eyes shifting from blue to green. “Your veins may be different, your eyes may have changed, but you’re still the man I love. The man who kissed me right here, under this same snow. The man who chose me over his own soul. Who saved Sgaeyl. The man I chose to marry. And I would choose you a thousand times over, corruption and all.”
Move. Step back. Get away from her.
But I can’t. Because the corruption devoured everything. Every emotion, every feeling, every flicker of humanity until nothing remained but a walking void. I shouldn’t feel anything at all.
Except I feel this. Her. The way my chest explodes at the sound of her voice. The way something dead blazes back to life when she looks at me.
I shouldn’t love her anymore.
But I do. Gods, I fucking do.
“You should hate me. I stole everything from you.” My hand reaches up without permission, hovering near her face where snow dusts her hair. “Your memory of our wedding night. Time you’ll never get back searching for a cure that doesn’t exist. Your chance at being happy with someone who isn’t a fucking monster.”
I start to drop my hand, but she catches it. Her fingers wrap around my wrist.
I jerk back violently, trying to rip free. “Violet, fuck—no! Let go! You can’t fucking touch me!”
“Xaden, look.” She gestures down to where her fingers wrap around my wrist.
The black veins retreat. I watch them fade from my skin, crawling back toward my elbow, then my shoulder, until they look like mine again.
The hunger stops.
For the first time in… fuck, I can’t even remember how long, I can breathe without that constant need tearing through my chest.
I stare at our joined hands and remember what it felt like to be human.
My free hand buries in her hair and I crush her mouth to mine, kissing her like I’ve forgotten how to do anything else. She tastes like life. Like everything good I thought the corruption had stolen from me forever.
She kisses me back, and for one perfect moment, I’m not a monster. I’m just a man who loves his wife.
I tear away, gasping against her forehead. “How? How did you—”
“This is my domain.” Her eyes burn as she looks up at me. “The dreams bend to my will. And this—” she presses closer, “—is my will.” Her voice turns desperate. “I don’t know how long it’ll last, Xaden. I’ve been working on this, but I don’t know—”
I silence her with another kiss.
If time is borrowed, I’m not wasting it on gods-damned explanations.
I break away and my hands move, fingertips tracing her cheek, her jaw, the soft skin at her temple. I press there like I can somehow burn the feeling into memory, like I can take this with me when it ends.
Her hands find my face too, fingers tracing the hollows under my eyes, the sharp edge of my cheekbones. “Gods, Xaden, you look—”
“Like your husband.” I cup her face in my hands, and she leans into the touch like she needs it as much as I do. “Are you safe? Tell me you’re safe.”
I followed her in the shadows for two months after our wedding. Watched her rule Tyrrendor like the duchess she was always meant to be, navigate politics better than I ever could, then eat dinner alone in rooms that used to be ours. Until I couldn’t trust myself around her anymore.
“I’m safe. I’m safe, but Xaden—” Her words tumble out in a rush. “So much has happened. We’re close to a cure, I think we’re actually close, but I lost Rhiannon.” Tears streak down her cheeks. “She’s gone, and I—” Her voice shatters.
I catch the tears with my thumbs, and her skin burns hotter under my palms. Heat spreads from her cheeks to her temples, and tremors rack through her hands where they touch my face. She’s shaking, fighting to hold this connection, burning herself out to steal us more time.
But time is running out.
“I’m proud of you. For everything. For who you’ve become. You were always meant to be this woman, this leader, this fucking force of nature. Thank you for giving me this. I love you, Violet Riorson.”
If I had a soul left, this is where it would go when Malek finally claims me. This courtyard where we first kissed, surrounded by snow and violets, holding the woman who chose to love me.
I kiss her one last time, claiming her soft, wet lips. Everything I can’t say bleeds into this kiss.
Then I feel it. The pull. The hunger roaring back to life as her power wavers, and suddenly I’m draining her. Taking her life force, her energy, her fucking light. Her hands claw at my arms, trying to push me away, but I can’t stop.
No. No, wait—
I try to rip away from her, but the corruption has its claws in deep now. My hands won’t obey, won’t release her even as I watch the color drain from her face.
I’m killing her. I’m killing the only good thing left in this world.
The violets start dying. Purple petals turn black and crumble, spreading outward from where we stand in perfect ripples.
Let go. Let her go. Let her fucking go.
But the corruption screams against it. Every cell infected with venin wants to hold on, to drain her dry, to take this life and power and make it mine. The hunger tears through my chest, demanding more. And letting go feels like tearing myself in half.
The violets keep dying. The ripples spread wider.
I summon every scrap of humanity I have left and tear my hands away from her face, letting out a soundless scream.
It’s the hardest fucking thing I’ve ever done.
I shove her back hard, and she hits the ground among the dying violets.
Gods, what did I do? What the fuck did I just do?
She’s breathing. Pale as death but breathing. I nearly—I almost—
“Xaden.” She sits up, wiping blood from her mouth. “You stopped.”
I look down at my hands. Black veins crawl up to my elbows again, sickly and wrong. “I’m a fucking monster. I can’t even dream of you without trying to kill you.”
“You’re wrong. You fought it, Xaden. You. Fought. It. You chose me.”
The dream starts to fracture at the edges.
“I love you,” she says fiercely as I feel myself being pulled away. “All of you. Even this. And I’m not done fighting for you. For us. I’ll find you again.”
“Violet—”
My hand claws at nothing. Fucking nothing.
I’m awake and she’s gone. The taste of her tears still burns on my tongue, but she’s not here. She’s never fucking here.
I could tear this place apart. Scream until my throat bleeds. Channel enough earth magic to bring the whole building down because losing her again rips me open.
Selfish piece of shit. Even after I nearly killed her. Even after I proved exactly what kind of monster I am. I still reached for her. Still wanted her to stay so I could drain every drop of life from her body.
But she promised. She said she’d find me again.
The golden thread burns in my chest, and I hate myself for hoping.
Because gods help me, when she comes back, I’ll be selfish enough to let her.
